Cash receptacle



Oct. 5, 1937.

E. o. BOISSELIER CASH RECEPTACLE Filed Feb. 8. 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l I N VENTOR llBoiSselier;

' ane W Oct. 5, 1937. E. D. BOISSELIER CASH RECEPTACLE Filed Feb. 8, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR f l I I l Patented Oct. 5, 1937 r 2,095,023

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CASH RE CEPTACLE Earl D. Boisselier, Glen Ellyn, Ill., assignor to American Flyer Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application February 8, 1936, Serial No. 63,024

4 Claims. (Cl. 23523) This invention relates to a toy which simuclosely simulates in shape and general appearlates the appearance and operation of a standard ance the casing of a standard cash register. cash register. The casing A is formed from sheet metal and A primary object of the invention is to provide comprises a pair of side walls I0, l0, a rear wall,

5 a novel construction which may be produced and and a combined front and top wall l2, which walls 5 assembled at a low cost to provide a realistic may be joined together, either permanently or toy which is strong, durable, and thoroughly detachably, in any suitable manner. Preferably, reliable in operation for its intended use, namely, however, and as shown, the side Walls H], H] are to register or indicate fictitious sales resulting flanged inwardly to overlie the marginal portions from make-believe transactions. of the walls II and I2 and said walls are joined 10 Other special objects of the invention are: to together by means of tabs l3 on the ends of the provide a low production cost cash receptacle of walls I I and I2 extending through slits in the the toy class including means for simulating sales side walls l0, l0 and bent over against the outer receipts such as ordinarily are obtained from a faces of the latter walls.

standard cash register; to provide means which The walls ID, ID are stepped at their front 15 may be manipulated to indicate the character edges so that there is formed at the top of the of the goods involved in a sale; to provide norcasing A arelatively narrow compartment I4 and mally concealed sale amount indicating plates at the bottom of said casing a forwardly extendwhich are moved individually to exposed posiing drawer compartment I5, the combined front tions upon depression of the individualkeys of and top wall l2 extending downwardly in front 20 the machine and which remain exposed after of the compartment I 4, as at 16, thence forwardly the keys are released; to provide means operable and at a downward inclination, as at H, thence at will and independently of the keys for releasvertically downward, as at l8, to the top of the ing said plates to permit them to return from drawer compartment [5, thence forwardly over their exposed positions to their normal or consaid drawer compartment, as at I9, and finally 25 cealed positions; to provide a drawer urged condownward at the front of said drawer compartstantly toward an open position; to provide novel ment as at 20. means for holding said drawer normally closed Within the casing A behind the portion N3 of and for releasing said holding means; and to the wall I2 is a horizontal shaft 2| which is provide novel means whereby a bell is sounded mounted at its ends in the casing side walls [0, 30 when the drawer opens. l0 and which has rockably mounted thereon at With the foregoing and other objects in view, spaced intervals therealong a plurality of key which will become more fully apparent as the arms 22. These arms are mounted intermediate nature of the invention is better understood, the their ends on the shaft 2| and extend forwardly same consists in the novel features of constructhrough vertical slots 23 in the portion 18 of the 35 tion, combination and arrangement of parts as wall I2 and rearwardly to points approximately will be hereinafter more fully described, illusunderlying the front of the compartment 14. At trated in the accompanying drawings and defined their outer ends said arms are provided with butin the appended claims. tons 24 for finger engagement to depress their In the drawings, wherein like characters of outer end portions thus to cause their inner end 40 reference denote corresponding parts in the difportions to rise, and preferably, but not necesferent views: sarily, alternate of said arms are so mounted on Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cash recepthe shaft 2| that the buttons 24 are disposed in tacle constructed in accordance with the inventwo or more rows at different elevations, thus to 5 tion. simulate the key arrangement of a standard cash Figure 2 is an enlarged transverse section register and at the same time to conserve space through the cash receptacle. and to facilitate the selection and finger actua- Figure 3 is a partial top plan view and partial tion of any individual key arm. horizontal section through the cash receptacle; Each key arm 22 has pivoted thereto, at its and inner end, a latch 25 comprising a forwardly ex- 50 Figure 4 is a front elevation of the cash receptending portion 26 disposed at one side of the tacle. key arm and an upwardly extending portion 21 Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be which, at its upper end, has its front edge slopobserved that the present cash receptacle coming downwardly and forwardly, as at 28, to a prises a casing, designated generally as A, which downwardly facing shoulder 29. Moreover, each 55 central, vertical, transverse plane of the machine below the compartment M, with the plates of each bank disposed, from front to rear, successively behind one another. Normally, said plates rest at their lower ends'on aforwardly directed extension 32 of a plate 33 which is suitably fastened against the inner face of the rear wall I! of the casing A, this plate .33 having anotherforwardly directed extension 35 provided with slots 35 in which the plates 3! are guided at thei upper ends, for vertical movement.

The weight of the plates 3! holds the inner,

ends of the key arms 22 normally depressed and the outer-ends of said arms normally elevated,

and when said, plates are in their normal or lowermost positions resting on the extension 32, their upper ends are disposed below a sight opening orwindow 36 in the portion I6 of the wall 32. On the upper part of the front face of each plate 3! isa numeral indicating a certain money value corresponding to a like money value indieating numeral on the button 2 3 of the related key arm 22. Thus, by depressing any given button, the related plate 3! will be elevated and the top portion thereof with the numeral thereon corresponding to the numeral on the depressed button will become visible through the window 36, In this connection, the numerals on the left hand bank of plates 3! preferably are whole numbers indicative .of amounts indolla'rs, and

the numeral on the right hand bank of plates, 3! preferably indicate fractions of a dollar, so

that by depressing different pairs of the key arms total amounts comprising dollars and cents will be indicated by the numerals on the exposed upper end portions of the pair of plates 3! which are elevated.

When, by depression of any given'button 24, the related plate 3! is elevated, it'is desirable that said plate shall remain elevated after finger pressure is removed from the button. This is accomplished through cooperation of the latches 25 with a keeper 3'! which conveniently is in the form of a normally vertically disposed plate fastened to the rear side of a transversely extending, horizontally disposed shaft 38 located above the rear ends of the key arms, 22 and rotatably mounted in a pair of ears 39, 39 extending forwardly from the plate 33. Extending upwardly from the shaft 33 through a slot 4!] in the portion I! of the casing wall !2 is a lever d! having a handle 42 for finger engagement to swing said lever forwardly thus to correspondingly rotate the shaft 38 and, with it, the keeper plate 3? from its normal, vertical position to a downwardly and rearwardly inclined position.

Related to each latch 25 is a spring 33 which tends constantly to rotate the latch to swing its arm 2'! forwardly. Each spring is in the form ofgan arm disposed at the side of the related key arm 22 opposite the side thereof at which the related. latch 25 is disposed, and at one end is suitably anchored to the key arm. Atits other end it extends through a slot Mi in the key arm 22 and is anchored to the forwardly extending portion 25 of the latch 25. Its tendency is to move downwardly to the lower end of the slot 44 andthus maintain the portions 26' and 2'! of the the upper edge of the keeper plate 37!.

ouently, when any given key arm is actuated to elevate the related plate 3!, the inclined upper,

latch swung downwardly and'forwar-dly, respectively. However, because of the slot 44 in the key arm, it is manifest that the latch may be swung counter to thedirection in which it is urged by the spring 43.

The shaft 38 is disposed in a position above the inner ends of the key arms 22 such that the keeper plate 31, when in its vertical position as shown by full lines in Figure 2, overlies the downwardly and forwardly inclined forward edges 28 of the latch portions 21, and such that when any given key arm is actuated to elevate the related plate 3! to an operative position behind the window 36, the related latch is elevated to a position in which its shoulder 29 isdisposed above Consebecomes alined with the upper edge of the keeper plate, whereupon the spring G3 acts to throw the portion 21 of the latch forwardly to aposition as illustrated by dotted lines in Figure 2. The shoulder 29 having thus been engaged over the top of the keeper plate 3?, it is apparent that the key arm will be held in its actuated position with the related plate 3! elevated when finger pressure subsequently is removed from the button 24 of the key arm. It is equally apparent that release of the latch may be effected at any time simply by grasping the handle 42 of the lever 4! and pulling said handle forwardly, thereby .to effect corresponding rotation of the shaft 38 and tilting of the keeper plate 37 to its'downwardly and rearwardly inclined position aforementioned.

This results in withdrawing the upper edge of the keeper plate, forwardly from beneath the latch'shoulder 29'and thereby permits the key arm and the plate 3! to return to their normal positions.

In the portion 20 of the casing wall I2 is an opening 55 in which is slidably mounted the forward end portion of a cash drawer 46 which is urged constantly forward or to an open position by'a suitable spring 4?. At its rear end said drawer is slidably supported by means of tongues- 53, extending from the sides thereof into slots 49 in a pair of guide plates 50 secured against the inner faces of the casing side walls I 0, I0. Moreover, projection or opening movement of the drawer is limited by engagement of the tongues 58 with the forward ends of the slots 49. 1

Normally the drawer G6 is retained in its closed position by a pair of latch arms 5! which, ex-, tend forwardly from the casing rear wall I I. Preferably these arms constitute the side portions of a U-shaped yoke the bight or connecting portion 52 of which is suitably mounted on the wall I for rotation so that the arms 5!, 5! may swing rearwardly as indicated at 51, the free ends of said portions 51 thus constituting shoulders and the front edges thereof thus constituting cam surfaces for co-operation with the rear wall of the drawer 46. That is to say, when the rod 55 is disposed at the bottoms of the slots 56 the arms 5| are disposed substantially horizontally above the plane of the top of the drawer 46 so that if the drawer is open and is pushed inwardly to its closed position the upper edge of its rear wall engages the front inclined edges of the arm portions 51 and thereby lifts said arms until the drawer rear wall passes behind the free ends of the arm portions 51, whereupon said arms drop and the free ends of the portions 51 thereof engage the front face of the drawer rear wall and thus latch the drawer closed.

When the drawer is latched in closed position by the arms 5| it obviously is necessary to lift said arms to permit the spring 41 to act to project the drawer to its open position. To lift said arms a key arm 58 is provided. This key arm is pivoted on the shaft 2| and extends from said shaft forwardly through a slot in the portion |8 of the wall l2 and is equipped at its forward end with a button 59 for effecting its depression. It also extends downwardly and rearwardly from the shaft 2| to the rod 55 to which it is suitably connected. Thus, upon depression of the button 59 the key arm is rocked on the shaft 2| and the rod 55 is elevated, thereby lifting the latch arms 5| and releasing the drawer 46 for projection by the spring 41.

To one of the casing side walls I0 is fastened a bell 60, and inwardly of said bell there projects inwardly from said wall I!) a lug 6|, while to the rear end of the drawer 46 is fastened one end of a leaf spring 6| which has a free end portion thereof projecting beyond the side of the drawer for engagement with the lug 6| when the drawer moves outwardly. Thus, upon outward movement of the drawer the leaf spring is bent rearwardly by engagement with said lug until it finally passes said lug and is released, whereupon it springs forwardly and a hammer thereon strikes the bell 50, thus causing the bell to ring each time the drawer is opened.

Suitably mounted for rotation within the chamber I4 to one side of the window 36 and behind a second window 62 in the portion |6 of the casing wall I2, is a plural-sided block or its equivalent 63 on the fiat, side faces of which are different words or symbols indicative of different kinds of classes of goods. Connected with the block 63 is a knob 54 which is exposed for finger actuation at one side of the casing A for the purpose of rotating said block to bring any side thereof into view through the window 62. If desired, there may be two of the indicating devices 63, one to either side of the window 36.

Against the outer face of one of the casing side walls II] is suitably mounted an auxiliary casing 65 to contain a roll of paper 66 which may be withdrawn through a slot 61 in said auxiliary casing and be torn off in short lengths to simulate sales slips.

In addition to its heretofore described features, the present cash register includes means whereby depression of a finger engageable element causes a normally concealed No sale indicating plate to be brought into view through the window 36 and simultaneously lifts the latch arms 5| to release the drawer 46 to permit its projection to open position by the spring 41. To the under side of the casing wall near one side of the casing is fastened a bracket 68, and to this bracket is pivoted, intermediate its ends, a lever 69 having forwardly and rearwardly extending arms 10 and II, respectively. The forwardly extending arm 70 is bent to extend upwardly through a slot 12 in the casing wall l! and outside of the casing is bent laterally to provide the aforementioned finger engageable element designated as 13. On the other hand, the arm extends to a point near the rear of the casing and at its rear end carries a plate 14 on the front of which is the No sale indication. Due to the weight of the plate 14 and the relative length of the arms TI, 12, the constant tendency ofthe lever 69 is to assume a position in which its arm 10 is elevated and its arm 1| is lowered, with the plate 14 disposed below the window 36 and therefore concealed from view, as shown by full lines in Fig. 2. Therefore, upon depression of the finger engageable element 13 the lever 69 is rocked on its pivot and the No sale indicating plate 74 is swung upwardly into View through the window 36, as illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. Moreover, upon release of finger pressure on the element 13 the lever 69 returns to its normal, full line position under the influence of gravity, although a spring may be employed to move said levers to its full line position should that be necessary or desirable.

Preferably, but not necessarily, the lever 69 is connected with the drawer latching means so that upon rocking of said lever to exhibit the No sale plate, the drawer latch means is released. As shown, this connection comprises a rod [5 connecting the arm H of the lever 69 with one of the drawer latch arms 5| and having a lost motion connection with one or the other of said arms whereby the drawer latch means may be operated by the lever 58 without actuating the No sale plate. In the present instance the lost motion connection referred to is formed by having the upper end of the rod 15 operable in a slot 16 in the arm ll of the lever 69. Normally the laterally bent upper end of the rod 15 is disposed at the bottom of said slot. Therefore, when the lever 69 is rocked to lift the arm 1| the rod 15 is lifted and lifts and releases the drawer latch means. On the other hand, when the lever 58 is actuated to lift and release the drawer latch means, the upper end of the rod 75 simply moves upwardly in the slot 16 without imparting movement to the lever 69.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings it is believed that the construction and operation of the invention will be clearly understood. It is desired to point out, however, that while only a single structural embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, the same obviously is capable of embodiment in various other mechanical structures within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:-

1. In a cash receptacle, a casing, a shaft extending horizontally within said casing, a plurality of key arms pivoted intermediate their ends on said shaft and having their forward portions extending outside of the casing for depression to elevate their rear ends, a plurality of sale amount indicating plates near the back of the casing, one related to each key arm and connected to the rear end thereof for elevation therewith, a latch on each key arm, and a keeper common to the latches of all of said key arms and engageable by said latches to retain any given indicating plate elevated following depression and release therewith to permit the related indicating plate to move downwardly.

2. In a cash receptacle, a sale amount indicating plate tending constantly to move downwardly "to a concealed position, a key arm engaged with said plate and rockable to elevate said plate to an exposed position, a latch pivoted on said key arm, a keeper disposed to be engaged by said latch when said key arm is rocked to elevate said plate, spring means between said latch and said key arm permitting the latch to rock to pass said keeper and effective to rock said latch into engagement with said keeper when the key arm is rocked to elevate said plate to its exposed position, thereby to releasably hold the plate elevated, said keeper being in the form of a rod rotatable about its own axis, said latch being re,

leasable by rotation of said keeper, said keeper having a flat side face disposed adjacent anedge of the latch to force the latter from engagement with the keeper when the latter is rotated, and means for rotating said keeper.

3. In a cash receptacle, a sale amount indicating plate tending constantly to move downwardly extending through'said slot and engaged with said latch and tending to rock said latch to its limit of movement as determined by engagement of a part of said spring arm with the wall defining one end of said slot, the keeper being disposed so that when the key arm is rocked to elevate said plate the latch engages and is rocked by said'keeper against the force of said spring arm until a position of the latch is reached so that the spring arm rocks the latch into engagement with the keeper to hold the indicator plate elevated, said keeper being rotatable to release said latch, and means for rotating said keeper.

4. In a cash receptacle, a sale amount indicating plate tending constantly to move downwardly to a concealed position, a key arm engaged with said plate and rockable to elevate said plate to an exposed position, a latch pivoted to said key arm and extending upwardly therefrom, said latch having a forwardly extending downwardly facing shoulder, spring means tending constantly to swing said latch forwardly, and a rotatable latch keeper behind which said latch travels when the key arm is rocked to elevate said plate and across the top of which said shoulder is moved by said spring means when the latch is elevated to a predetermined position, the latch keeper having a; rear fiat face against which'the forward edge ,of the latch is urged by said springmeans when the latch shoulder is disposed above said keeper whereby rotation of said keeper swings the latch rearwardly to assist in effecting its disengagement from said keeper. 7

' EARL D. BOISSELIER. 

